Investors back rivals Uber and Didi, raising eyebrows

Ride-hailing companies Uber and Didi have brought many new dimensions to the startup industry, such as making billion-dollar-plus funding rounds routine.

Now, they have added another to the list: sharing big investors who are backing both companies, even though they are fierce rivals.

Uber, the leading ride service in the United States and much of the world, and Didi Chuxing, which claims 87 percent of the Chinese market for private vehicle ride-hailing, now share at least four investors: asset manager BlackRock, Chinese investment manager Hillhouse Capital Group, hedge fund Tiger Global and insurer China Life, according to investment records and sources familiar with the deals.

“It’s very unusual to allow the same parties to invest and get information rights of sworn mortal enemies,” said Max Wolff, chief economist at Manhattan Venture Partners. “But then again, it’s also not common to raise $14 billion as a seven-year-old pre-IPO company.”

Uber has raised more than $13 billion in equity and debt financing since it started in 2009. Didi this week confirmed a $7.3 billion funding round, bringing total fundraising to more than $10 billion… see more

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